Harrow evener



R. B. WALLACE 2,718,740

HARROW EVENER Sept. 27, 1955 Filed June 1'7, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept.27, 1955 R. B. WALLACE 2,718,740

HARROW EVENER Filed June 17, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 cfzvezzZoz Wkkard 2.ez/zzace 2,718,740 [Ce Patented Sept. 27, 1955 HARROW EVENER RichardByron Wallace, Sac City, Iowa, assignor to Grace A. Noble, Sac City,Iowa Application June 17, 1950, Serial No. 168,788

3 Claims. (Cl. 55-84) My invention relates to a novel type of harrowevener.

In harrowing operations, not all situations require the use of the samenumber of harrow sections and the specific number used or required willbe found generally to vary from two to eight. The harrow sections areusually attached to a tubular drawbar or evener which in turn is usuallyflexibly attached by cables to a center chain assembly. The chainassembly in turn is connected to the hitch on a prime mover such as atractor or the like. The basic drawbar or center tubing as it issometimes called is constructed to accommodate a specific number ofharrow sections and this is generally three. Stub sections can be addedto the evener to. increase the number of harrow sections that may bepulled and in the present state of the art the practice has beento add alike number of harrow sections to each end of the evener so that theload to be pulled by the evener is balanced in relation to the forcetransmitted to the cables connecting the evener to the tractor.Consequently, for example, where a four-section harrow is all that isneeded, the basic three section drawbar with one stub added could not beused as this would not give a proper balance and alignment. Therefore,the user is limited to a three-section harrow which would beinsufiicient or to a five-section harrow that would be more than herequired. The same is true in other cases, when the number of harrowsections needed in addition to the capacity of the central tubing is notdivisible by two.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a harrow evenerwith a basic central section having a capacity for a predeterminednumber of harrow sections and which is designed to be adaptable foraccommodating an odd or even number of harrow sections in addition tothe capacity of the central section thereof.

More specifically my invention embodies the use of one or more stubsections capable of being detachably secured to the basic centralsection of the evener and a calculated arrangement of eye members on thestub sections and basic section whereby the cables running from theevener to the tractor or the like can be selectively secured to certainof the eye members to provide an even balanced pull irrespective ofwhether the capacity of the evener is increased to accommodate an odd oreven number of harrow sections in addition to its basic capacity.

A further object of this invention is to provide a harrow evener havingthe advantages above recited and in which the adaptation of the evenerfor accommodating an increasing number of harrow sections can be madequickly and easily without requiring any special tools.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel means forattaching a clevis to an eye member when securing the harrow evenercables to a ring on the center chain assembly thereof.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an elevational View showing a central section for a harrowevener having a capacity for three harrow sections and showing theharrow sections attached thereto,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a ring on the center chainassembly of this device secured by a clevis to an elongated slotted eyemember attached to one of the evener pulling cables,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of this device taken from theline 33 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the manner of inserting the clevisthrough the elongated eye member on one of the cables,

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of this evener with one stub section addedto increase the capacity of the evener from three to four harrowsections and showing the addition of extra cables and their connectingpoints on the evener and stub sections,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of one of the links used for increasing thelength of a cable, and

Fig. 7 is an elevational view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the evenerhaving two stub sections and adapted to accommodate five harrowsections.

Referring to the drawings I have used the numeral 10 to designate anelongated tubular drawbar or harrow evener. As viewed in Fig. 1 thisevener tube 10 has the stub shaft 11 on the left end so that therespective ends 11 and 12 of the tube 10 present a male and femaleportion. Arranged in longitudinal spaced relationship on the evener tube10 and extending in the same direction therefrom are the eye members 13,14, and 15. It is pointed out that the members 13 and 15 are positionednear the respective end portions of the tube 10 and each areapproximately equidistant from the respective tube ends excluding thestub shaft 11. The member 14 is not centered on the tube 10 but islocated at a point between the member 13 and the longitudinal center ofthe tube 10 as shown in Fig. l. The numeral 16 designates three hookmembers respectively secured in equidistant spaced relationship to thetube 10 by means of the respective collars 17 as shown in Fig. 1. Thisconstruction thus far described is known as the center tubing or what Ihave referred to as the basic center section. Each of the hooks 16 isdesigned to pull the respective harrow sections 18.

A center chain assembly comprises the length of link chain 19 having thering members 20 secured to each respective end. This chain assembly issecured to the evener tube 10 by means of cables and when the basiccenter section only is used for a three-section harrow I provide the twocables 21 and 22 as shown in Fig. 1 and when the evener is adapted toaccommodate more than three harrow sections I provide the additionalcables 23 and 24 as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7. The terminal eyemembers 25 for each of the above cables and the clevis 26 and clevis pin27 for attaching the respective ends to the evener and the rings 20 areof like construction and are given like numbers. Each end of each cable2124 is provided with the elongated eye member 25. It is pointed outthat in construction these members 25 are in the form of an elongatedlink as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 and makes possible the insertion of theclevis 26 therein as illustrated in Fig. 4. Heretofore, in securingcables to eveners by a clevis, the terminal members on the cables havebeen in the form of rings. This was thought to be necessary to allowpassageway for the eye portions of the clevis, but by providing theelongated slots as I have done in the members 25, the clevis can beeasily passed therethrough and at the same time the members 25 providegreater strength than a ring member at this point.

The numeral 28 designates a link member formed from p the members 13 and33 and to the rings 20.

a rod length with its respective ends bent to form an eye as shown inFig. 6. These links are used as hereinafter described to lengthen thecables when required.

For purposes of adapting the center tubing 10 to accommodate more thanthree harrow sections, I provide the stub tubular sections 29 and 30respectively as illustrated in Figs. and 7. The stub section 29 isprovided with the stub shaft 31 so that it has a male and female end thesame as the center tubing 10. Two spaced apart eye members 32 and 33 aresecured thereto as shown in Fig. 5. The distance between the members 32and 33 is the same as the distance between the members 13 and 14 on thetubing 10. A hook 34 is secured by a collar 35 to the stub tubing 29similarly to the hooks 16. The stub section 30 comprises a length oftubing of like diameter and length as the stub section 29 excluding thestub shaft 31. An eye member 36 is secured near one end portion of thetube 30 and this eye is similar to the eyes 1315 and 32 and 33. Likewisethe hook 37 and collar 38 on the tube 30 for pulling the harrow sectionis similar to like hooks on the other sections and 29.

In operation this harrow evener is capable of use as follows: Fig. 1illustrates the arrangement of the center tubing 10 or basic centersection designed to pull three harrow sections. This arrangementcontemplates the use of the two cables 21 and 22 secured respectively tothe members 13 and 15 and to the rings 20. The evener is pulled byattaching the link chain 19 to a hitch on a trailer or the like. Toincrease the capacity of the evener from three to four harrow sections,reference is made to Fig. 5. Here the tubing 29 is attached to thecenter tubing 10 by inserting the stub shaft 31 of the tube 29 into thefemale end 12 of the tubing 10. This is a telescoping arrangement andrequires no bolts, hinges or the like. The cable 21 is then secured tomember 14 and the cable 22 is secured to member 32. Two cables 23 and 24are added and secured respectively to It is pointed out that therespective distances between hooks 13 and 14 and 32 and 33 are equal sothat the pulling force on the expanded evener remains equalized eventhough the capacity of the evener has been increased to accommodate onlyone additional harrow section.

To adapt the evener to five harrow sections which is two more than thecapacity of the center tubing and one more than the arrangement shown inFig. 5, reference is made to Fig. 7. This adaptation contemplates thestructure of Fig. 5 with the stub tubing 30 telescoped on the stub shaft11 of the tubing 10 as illustrated. The cables 23 and 24 respectivelyare then secured to the eye members 36 and 33 and a link 28 is added toeach forwardly end of each of these cables to provide the additionallength obviously needed. The cables 21 and 22 respectively are securedto the members 13 and 15. Thus arranged the distance between the members36 and 13 and 1S and 33 is equal so that the pulling force on the evenerremains equalized.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of myharrow evener without departing from the real spirit and purpose of myinvention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a harrow evener, a center section tubular draw bar having a stubshaft extending from one end thereof, means on said center section forpulling a predetermined number of harrow sections, a first and secondeye member respectively disposed on said center section and equallyspaced from the transverse median and ends thereof, a. third eye memberdisposed on said center section intermediate said first and second eyemembers and closer to said first eye member than said second eye member,a lengthwise tubular drawbar extension unit extending from each side ofsaid center section, one of said extension units having a stub shaftextending from one end thereof and interengaging the tubular end of saidcenter section, a stub shaft on said center section interengaging onetubular end of the other extension unit, a pair of eye members disposedon one of said extension units and equally spaced from the transversemedian and ends thereof, the spaced relationship between said pair ofeye members and said first and third eye members being the same, an eyemember disposed on the other extension unit near the outer end thereof,each of said extension units having means to pull only one harrowsection, flexible pull members joined at one end to a common attachingmeans designed to be coupled to a tractor or the like and connected attheir other respective ends to selected eye members on said centersections and extension units tol produce a balanced draft for saidcenter drawbar as extended, each of said flexible pull members beingdisconnectible from said eye members and rearrangeable thereon wherebythe harrow section capacity of this harrow evener can be selectivelyincreased or decreased by one or more without disturbing the balance ofthe draft.

2. In a harrow evener, a center section drawbar member having meansdesigned to pull a predetermined number of harrow sections, a lengthwisedrawbar extension unit extending from each side of said center sectionand coupling means for endwise engagement therewith, each of saidextension units designed to pull only one harrow section, a plurality ofeye members on said center section, a pair of eye members on oneextension unit and one eye member on the other extension unit, flexiblepull members joined at one end to a common attaching means designed tobe coupled to a tractor or the like and connected at their otherrespective ends to selected eye members to produce a balanced draft forsaid center drawbar as extended, means on each of said flexible pullmembers disconnectible from said eye members and rearrangeable thereonwhereby the harrow section capacity of this harrow evener can beselectively increased or decreased by one or more without disturbing thebalance of the draft, said last mentioned means comprising, an elongatedlink member secured to the end of said respective flexible pull members,a clevis member, eyes on the oppositely disposed free ends of saidclevis member, one of said clevis eyes insertable through said link andmeans for detachably securing each respective clevis to an eye memberand a link member.

3. A harrow drawbar consisting of a plurality of sections detachablysecured in endwise alignment, a plurality of spaced apart eye members onsaid drawbar, a plurality of flexible pull members connected at one endto a common coupling and at their other respective ends to selected eyesto produce a balanced draft for said drawbar, means on each of saidflexible members disconnectible from said eyes and rearrangeable thereonto selectively increase or decrease said sections by one or more and tomaintain a balanced draft, said last mentioned means comprising, anelongated link member secured to the end of said respective flexiblepull members, a clevis member, eyes on the oppositely disposed free endsof said clevis member, one of said clevis eyes insertable through saidlink and means for detachably securing each respective clevis to an eyemember and a link member, and said flexible members remaining attachedat one end to a common coupling irrespective of the number of sectionsused.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS952,210 McGovern Mar. 15, 1910 1,230,294 Hansen et al. June 19, 19171,653,292 Kelly Dec. 20, 1927 1,722,540 Rasmussen July 30, 19292,131,667 Noble Sept. 27, 1938

